“Wie, bitte?” Ranting back at Exberliner

by Guest Blogger

Lauren Oyler responds to an Exberliner rant about the lack of German fluency among Berlin’s expat community.

I moved to Berlin for myriad reasons, all of which are, seven months later, still difficult to articulate. I had spent two weeks here in May 2011, and while I was certainly technically aware that the city is the capital of Germany, the things I associated it with were tangentially German at best. Instead of sausage and Spätzle, I remembered picnics at an abandoned airport; the first bicycle that didn’t give me flashbacks to the traumatic handlebar accident at age eight; a laid back, noncompetitive atmosphere in which you can live happily on little income and people are generally accepting of whatever weird artsy soul-searching you’re there to do. Obviously not everyone in Berlin does these things, but not everyone in New York wants to be an actor, either. Both are massive cities with many different realities.

I came back in August of last year, and before I did, countless sources — and the existence of several English-language newspapers, blogs and other publications — told me my lack of German skills would be no big deal. This is true and, apparently, infuriating, particularly so for the people who landed here before me.

Julie Colthorpe, who wrote “Sorry, no German!” in this month’s Exberliner, came to Berlin 12 years ago and longs for the days when expats would get kicked out of supermarkets for confusing their datives and accusatives. Calling out an unnamed but obvious brunch-serving Australian restaurant in Neukölln, she argues that all-English businesses and expats with no German skills have no place in the city. Although her complaints weren’t directed towards me — I dutifully brave the umlaut to save myself from accidentally ordering anything pickled — I feel attacked nevertheless. I’m American, I live in Neukölln, and German fluency is almost as fathomable to me as paying more than 1.30€ for a beer. I’ve been to Melbourne Canteen and breathed a sigh of relief when I realized I didn’t have to furrow my eyebrows in despair at the thought of trying to convey a dropped fork.

By contrast, Colthorpe’s clearly proud of her German, so it’s likely she’s unaware that getting a blunt “WIE, BITTE?” in response to a valiant attempt at communication is a cultural tradition alive and well here in the capital city. Add to this the sense that your best accent only comes out when you’re drunk or transforming into your parodic German alter ego, Frau Schadenfreude, and you understand why expats everywhere struggle to learn the languages of the countries they live in. It’s scary and hard. Here, you can avoid that if you want to, but people — usually non-native German speakers — will scold you for it.

Should English speakers take the bait, be ashamed? As Colthorpe says, a German-only restaurant would fail in Melbourne (or New York, or Vancouver)… but not because English speakers are too stupid to grapple with café-level German — or even because they would be unwilling to do so in a reasonable circumstance. But knowing German in Australia will do you about as much good as a first-edition copy of Jane Eyre — nice if you’re into that kind of thing, but otherwise kind of useless. It’s a paradox, sure, that being constantly abused for speaking little to no German can make a potential Berliner less willing to stick around and learn it, but the harsh economic reality is this: it’s just not necessary.

by Josh Bauman

English, on the other hand, kind of is. A series of historical events — uncontrolled by the well-meaning people at Melbourne Canteen, überlin and any given Sameheads party — has made English the lingua franca among the people in Berlin who are here because it’s Berlin, not because it’s Germany. Colthorpe says she spent her New Year’s Eve with a group of people from Italy, France, Spain, Russia, America, and Germany, and instead of appreciating the cosmopolitanism, cooperation and progress that has allowed them to share any common language, she cries “HIPSTER BULLSHIT!” in the face of more than a half-century of diplomacy. If only we could have shown her piece to someone living in 1941. The irony that it’s published in an English-language magazine that caters to the exact audience she risks alienating is apparently completely lost on her; even funnier is that Exberliner suggested going to the Melbourne Canteen in its January 2013 issue (“Where to go in Neukölln,” pg. 50).

The exclusively-English-speaking expat population may indeed be “missing out” on one kind of Berlin experience, but anyone who can read a Wikipedia entry and memorize some definite articles is not some kind of Culture Crusader making the world a better place, one well-pronounced “CH”-sound at a time. The idea that culture consists of an immutable combination of foods, sayings, and historical anecdotes is a perfect definition for those who want to assimilate for the chance to say they have. Expat culture is a part of Berlin’s culture. You can’t praise the city’s international draw in one breath and condemn expatriates as tourist scum the next. If you’re disturbed by the Melbourne Canteen, you’ll have to get over it.

I don’t think learning German is pointless, and as I improve, however slowly, I feel better about whatever it is I’m doing here. More than once I’ve been embarrassed when an American or British friend forgoes even the barest minimum of effort, skipping the regretful-but-polite, “Sprechen Sie Englisch, bitte?” in favor of an unfathomably lazy, “Can I get a Berliner?” That sucks. It’s rude to go into a German restaurant, bar, café or terrifying governmental bureau and speak English to the people there because, despite the way Colthorpe writes about it, the vast majority of cafes, bars, restaurants, and performance/coworking/women’s-only gym spaces in Berlin function fully in Deutsch.

No one’s forcing anyone to go to The Bird, and we all know too well how interchangeable the bars in Neukölln are; if you find one unpleasantly Anglophonic, go to the one next door. Enclaves of English — and French, and German and etc. — exist in any semi-significant city; that’s called globalisation. It’s not going away, and a misguided rant about one of its fairly harmless symptoms accomplishes nothing but animosity. Explicitly English businesses hurt no one, and Colthorpe’s piece is as unthinking, boring, and selfish as an American who lives in Germany for six months without bothering to learn how to order a multi-grain roll. You’d think the constipation would eventually drive her to Google Translate, but that’s her Kreuz to Berg.

Well, I like the article. I fully agree. Firstly, I live in Germany and work, but I work with English. I speak two other languages that are totally foreign for the germans. They don’t mind using my skills though. Secondly, I have been learning German, but frankly I do not have the time and financial resource to it every single day. Thirdly, I find it very small minded and backwards to be rude to people only because they don’t speak your language perfectly. It shows basically that you do not want to make international friends, you do not respect people who are different and you yourself have not learned anyrhing except for the local ABC. Last but not least, thank you for this post, I am glad there are people out there who have not lost their steaight mind after living in Germany. When I came I had utmost respect and I was happy. After the bashing regarding my skills in German, I feel angry and bitter and I want my money back I paid for all the tax and piles of totally ureasonable “ghost” bills in the most rude country in Europe! My sincere desire to learn this language and sink in has disappeared after people tried to force on me the responsibility for their own inadequate in the modern world education.

If you go to a different country, as a tourist, you learn a few basic sentences in the official language.
If you go to live in a foreign country, you learn the language as best as you can.
Yes, you can get by speaking English in Berlin. If you consider yourself a person that treats others with respect however, you will always address any person in Germany first in German. Even if it is ” Sprechen Sie Englisch?” then you are giving the person a chance to switch to their second language. You can then converse in English. The priority for me, as a German is that you have at least the courtesy to ask whether I want to/ can speak in English with you. You are the foreigner. You adapt. If I am the foreigner, I adapt. If we’re in Germany I have the right to tell you that I don’t want to speak English with you. If I am in the US, England, Australia, NZ, etc. the English speaking person has the right to ask me to speak in English.

And if you are planning to stay in Germany for the long run – trust me – you will need German anyways or you will not get through any official paper stuff.

I am for everyone learning second and third languages. And I am also for behaving like a guest when you are one.

[…] get by without speaking the language. Whether or not you’d want to–or should–has been hotly debated lately, but for those who do, the fact that so many people speak English in Berlin can present a […]

It seems to me that whether or not you learn the language, and whether or not you’re concerned about it, has a lot to do with how much you value authenticity; that is, whether you’re interested in going behind the scenes and having an experience that goes beyond what’s written in a guidebook or magazine.

Sure, it’s hard to do that if you don’t speak the language, but whether or not you do may decide automatically whether you’re living here or merely passing through.

Just for the record, Spätzle is from Southern Germany and there has also been debates, in German, about the Schwaben taking over Berlin. I have some issues with the article in Exberliner as well, but I think that this article could have been stronger if you started with a regional Berliner food that is both as Berlin and as German as food can get (perhaps Leber Berliner Art).

It is true that an expat can do most things in Berlin without knowing German: however, how anyone can get anything done at the Ausländerbehörder without knowing German is beyond me.

This is such a typical Anglophone perspective. You are accommodated everywhere you go, and suddenly, when people wish you would at least bother trying to integrate a bit, you are outraged. You also completely underestimate how enriching it is to speak another language, and the culture you have access to.

I’ll give you my perspective as someone who speaks native-level English, but wasn’t born and raised somewhere English-speaking: everywhere I’ve lived, I made sure I spoke the local language and if I didn’t, I made the effort to try and learn enough to get by. It’s basic kindness. The Exberliner author is criticising exactly the kind of person who not only doesn’t know, but doesn’t bother, and is actually proudly defensive about it. That’s unimaginable to me.

You claim people are overreacting – if you don’t care, then why are you writing an article about it? Get over people complaining about you, then.

what strikes me about all of this ex-pat do we want them yes or no…is that it’s all so mediocre. so much of it is just so bad, the cafés, the blogs, the drivel. i don’t give a shit what you speak just for god’s sake don’t open another cupcake, burger, aussie café and tell me that you are contributing to the richness of berlin. no one can really pinpoint what elements come together to make a city for brief moment the place that spawns talent, epochal changes…Berlin just ain’t it guys. get over yourselves.

I think this article totally misses the point. It’s the complete lack of effort, the laziness that so many Berlin expats have with the German language that is so obnoxious. And it’s not ironic that the rant was published in Exberliner. That’s exactly where it should have been published, because it’s the exact audience she wants to call out!

I have mixed feelings about this. Or, well, no, maybe I’m just jealous as hell ^^. I’m not a british/american/australian expat and I know that my country (italy) is a sinking ship and that my knowledge of the italian language could be completely useless in 2 years.

Not learning German, therefore, was never a concrete option for me, but knowing how hard it is and how much mental energy it’s taking I can also totally understand why someone would skip the whole process…

Languages die out all the time, being the last generation speaking a language isn’t even rare. Doesn’t mean they forget it, just that another language takes over and the language dies out with nary a whimper.

There is no doubt that the international atmosphere gives Berlin a nice addition of what some other cities in Germany maybe don’t have. Yet, it is very sad, that somebody living in Berlin for seven months is believing to have experienced enough to say that learning German wouldn’t be necessary.

First of all, learning languages can never be unnecessary. Learning a new language is an adventure to be able to understand another culture better. Moreover, when you live in a place where that language is spoken, it gives you even more.

Secondly, this talk about the language skills of the expats living in Berlin is mostly concentrated on German-English-discussion. In countries of native languages with a big hinterland, like UK, USA or Australia, learning other languages has never been that much of a requirement of survival. In countries with a more uncommon native language, you can’t even make it in your home country without learning English, German and French by the time you are 20. Someone speaking a language with less native speakers than there are people in Berlin, for instance, would never expect that they could just use their native language in another country, like the native English speakers – yet understandably – do. This in a way is simultaneously the bless and the curse of the English language.

I am an expat in Berlin myself. As I learned German, it gave me the chance to understand, not only the cool kids of X-berg, but also that 80-year-old woman needing a helping hand with her groceries. Knowing Berlin for me means being able to communicate with its people in all ages and backgrounds. When it means communicating with an Australian waitress, I will also be happy to do that in English.

And I would love to give a tip for everybody struggling in that phase of learning German: the moment of denial and disgust for German language is a natural chapter in learning it. The first year or two learning German you will not like it, and you think there is no point as you will never learn it (or at least that’s what I thought). But you will, and at that point you are going to be proud of it and evaluate it. However, even knowing German, you can still speak English every time it’s more convenient.

I loved the article, and I’m looking forward to the brilliant career in writing that’s ahead of you. As a dyed-in-the-wool German, I have to admit that my own occasional resentment against foreigners who choose to live in an all-English circle in the German capital comes from wounded pride. Berlin is the heart of German-speaking culture; millions are spent on theaters, opera, on a plethora of newspapers, books, and other cultural output that’s second to, well, only the Anglophone world. If you are fine with living here but have no interest in our language, this implicitly means shunning much of what we Germans think is great about our literature, theater, history, public discourse, politics, and generally the utter brilliance of our civilization. Hence the wounded pride.

But on the other hand, there can be no doubt that Berlin gains massively from the presence of so many smart and quirky Ausländers – and if the fact that you don’t have to speak the local language to live happily by the river Spree brings in more of you, well, then so be it.

Not speaking the native language well, or at all some times, is entirely normal among almost all expat communities. Particularly in capital cities.

London; now France’s 6th biggest city.
Glasgow and Birmingham where there are large expat indian and pakistani populations, street signs in punjabi and urdu.
“Chinatown” in many large cities.

And clearly when the Saxons originally invaded the British isles they didn’t all learn the local language. Now did they?

It simply takes a long time to learn a language to fluency and until that time, and usually beyond, expats tend to stick together and talk together in their native language. Is it really that difficult to understand?

Just checking: the title’s meant to be “Wie, bitte?”, isn’t it. The title is a direct attack on Ex-Berliner’s stance hence the comma, ie. Wtf Ex-Berliner. Having just scanned Lauren’s tweets, I notice the title is written: Wie bitte? (Pardon) Lauren Oyler ‏@LaurenOyler

Despite this rant’s lucidity, I am truly grappling with your arguments. Your time in Berlin maybe transient, maybe permanent, of course, it’s difficult to tell at this stage. However, even though you manage a reasonably happy life without speaking much German in Berlin, Berlin is only a small part of an entire country; just as reading Die Blechtrommel in English would somewhat diminish its’ artistic licence. Forget about Jane Eyre. Unfortunately, you will continue to be ‘abused’ for your lack of German knowledge – yes, this will demotivate you even further; yes, it will be hard to keep on trying, but please do so – even if you speak German fluently with an American accent, you may still find some Germans react negatively: “Angst essen Seele auf”, Fassbinder’s grammatically incorrect film title. Wie, bitte? How what Lauren? Wie bitte? Are you annoyed by your lack of German fluency? When in Rome…..

I don’t get people like you Lauren. I’m German and have been living in the UK for nearly 5 years now. I have lived with English native speakers from the first day I got here. I have always found it exciting to participate in a foreign culture, engage with what’s happening in this beautiful city that I live in and mingle with its natives and speak their language. I find it very exciting to explore other cities and areas in the country because there is so much more to discover. And every time I come across blog posts by English-speaking expats living in Germany who can’t be arsed to learn the language (mostly in Berlin) I ask myself how it would be if I lived in a foreign country without speaking the local language, and some of the questions I keep asking myself are:

Is it really as easy as you make out to get on without learning the language of the country you’ve decided to live in? Or should I say city because you sound like you don’t have the slightest interest in any other places in Germany but the microcosm that is Berlin. I’m wondering how you deal with everyday things such as the local authorities. How do you make an appointment at the dentist’s? Would you hang up if you found out that the receptionist on the other end doesn’t speak English and try somewhere else until you find someone who you can actually talk to? Do you plan your life around this language barrier? Do you actually rely on the fact that everybody will somehow understand your English? Have you ever asked yourself what you’d do if there was an accident and it was about life and death and there was no one around who could speak English? Isn’t that a bloody nightmare? Do you actually live? Do you really feel at home where you are? Do you feel like a tourist all the time? Are you a tourist on a very long holiday?

Yeah, I’m leaning towards Julie Colthorpe on this one. Fair enough if you visit Berlin or any other city and choose to live in some superficial bubble of ex-pat hipsterdom, that’s your choice. But don’t go throwing a hissy fit when those who have made the effort to learn the language & integrate express their frustration at your laziness or disinterest. Life as an immigrant in real-world Germany can be tough. Getting a job as an employee, pursuing a career, becoming part of the permanent community – as Julie Colthorpe has done, her writing for English-language publications is a sideline – these are not easy tasks and are made more difficult when a significant proportion of expats choose not to engage, making locals wary of trusting English-speakers with jobs, or friendships, or anything requiring a degree of trust or committment. You may have no interest in German, or Germany, but it is the permanent population of Berlin that facilitates its brilliance. No matter how fleeting your stay in Berlin, a little effort, a little reciprocity would go a long way to making sure that those who come to play don’t poison the waters for those who’ve come to stay.

the only thing that bothers me about MC, that Australian brunch place, is the lack of quality, I don’t even start to think about their use of language.
And I’ve never ever experienced a waiter in Berlin not knowing any German or at least trying to communicate in German. (Though I have offered using English instead of German multiple times when ordering in restaurants, especially to French waiters…)

“German” means “spaetzle” and “sausages” but somehow everything that’s great about Berlin has nothing to do with Germans? Who do you think made this city what it is? You and your expat friends? This kind of attitude is exactly what makes people who’ve been here longer wish that ill-informed, narrow-minded – yet highly opinionated – newcomers like you would just move on to the next hip destination already. You’re not adding anything to the city, and publishing tripe like this takes something away.

Julie’s article has been described here variously as boring, selfish, bigoted, mindless, childish and tiresome. Why? Because she has the temerity to suggest that people living in Berlin should bother to learn the lingua Franca of the city and the country.

We all know why people move to Berlin from the UK, US, Oz etc, and how much they get out of this incredible city. Is it seriously too much to ask that you put the minimum back in, ie learning to communicate with the locals in their language, rather than forcing them to speak yours? There is no possible defence for “never planning to learn German”. If that is really your attitude, then F.O. home frankly – you will never understand that your relationship to the place you live in involves GIVE and Take.

There’s nothing that differentiates the hipster refusenik expat in Berlin from the average sunburned moron on the Costa del Sol drinking their Carling and watching their Sky Sports, proudly refusing to acknowledge they are guests in SOMEONE ELSE’S country.

‘A city like Berlin is an ill-mannered, impertinent, intelligent scoundrel, constantly affirming the things that suit him and tossing aside everything he tires of.’ Robert Walser, Berlin and the Artist, 1910.

As we know, a lot changed from then on, and the wall-bubble meant that many Berliners either developed a short memory for the former cosmopolitan life, or sadly were born with a non-existent one.

The Exberliner has some ropey journalism at times, but this is perhaps not the arena to bash out that opinion – yet to put an article criticising the English language invasion in a magazine for Expats brings us back to the new problem in Berlin ‘Goddamit, newby, I was here first’.

I’ve certainly seen both sides of the argument:

I have an Italian friend who for the past 10 years has run an upmarket lettings agency in Berlin. He has made a life here, owns a fine apartment in P’berg and refuses to learn German. In all honesty, he can’t stand the language. He can order a beer, dine out, but when it comes to anything legal he just gets someone else to translate it for him. He doesn’t let it bother him because it simply doesn’t impact on his life. He is a success and an opportunist and happy. Up to us whether we feel this is sensitive behaviour or not. How much German does HE need?

I have another friend, born in East Germany, has Russian as her second language and laments that when she goes into a bar in Neukoelln, no one speaks German (forgetting that her boyfriend is Italian – though now bi-lingual). The landscape has changed for her at an alarming rate (despite what the Scorpions sang about the benefits of a wind whistling through); she feels edged out in some places she used to frequent. She simply isn’t used to what someone like me, coming from London, is – every language spoken around her and English uniting them all. How much English does SHE need?

As expressed, every major city has a community of expats catering to their own. Whether the Australian cafe succeeds or not depends on how niched it is (once had Kangeroo tail soup – NEVER again. And that was in Australia). Whether cafe/restaurant signage should be in both languages would show some sensitivity or respect to the locals, agreed, but then is that who they are trying to attract? Clearly not. The problem may be more for the staff who have landed in Berlin then thinking they can survive on instincts and friends alone: ‘hey! It’s all cool here, I mean look! I’ve only been here a week and I’ve already got a job!!’ They’ll hit a wall (no pun intended) when they decide to put real roots down and enter a local authority office where the staff either can’t speak English or refuse to in return. Or like me, had to go to hospital for concussion after falling in the snow and resorting to mime – amusing for both me and the doctor, but made me realise that without my German bi-lingual friends around I was utterly useless to myself. All depends how independent you want to be. And how isolated.

I wasn’t talking about its length; I was talking about its content. She uses the comment area to elucidate on something the piece brought to mind for her that is also relevant to the discourse, as opposed to the usual “Well, MY life is like THIS, so that MUST be how it is for EVERYONE.”

I’m German, I’m from Berlin (and I lived in Neukölln btw), I liked the Exberliner’s rant and I like this one. It’s all true and it’s all wrong. There are too many sides to please 🙂 .. it’s that simple: You will be able to get along easily in Berlin by only speaking English, depending on where you roam around and what you want to achieve (party party party in Mitte or.. ahem… Behörden in Marzahn). I think that’s okay because I fear the idea of being in a foreign place without being able to communicate. English has served me well a lot of times abroad and it brings so many different people together in Berlin – that’s the magic. So don’t worry you don’t HAVE to learn German. Though it would be nice. Seriously. Just plain polite stuff, you know. We really appreciate that (well, I do). And for the rest …learn it or don’t. It’s the usual life lesson: Kurze Arme, keine Kekse!

I think where you land on this issue probably depends on how far along you are in German. If you know none, its like, “yeah cosmopolitanism! I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do!” If you know a little, you are totally bitter that you are wasting precious moments learning dative while everyone speaks English to you anyways and if you do speak German they just correct you. At one point, after a few years, you may actually speak enough German to get by, and by then you feel stupid for resisting so long and making it a bigger deal.

And then the cycle continues as you scold newer expats for not even trying at something that has tortured you for years…

Great piece, Lauren! I was really torn about the Exberliner article because on one hand, I totally agree that people shouldn’t be so arrogant as to go anywhere in world and expect to be catered to in their native tongue – especially if trying to live there – but at the same time, it seemed her arguments were just a blanket shit storm on anyone evening deigning to speak any English in Berlin at all. I think you totally capture the middle ground wonderfully here and I couldn’t agree with you more.

We have lived in Wiesbaden, home to a very large US military base, for the last three years for my husband’s job (not military affiliated) and I have always had a hard time with my fellow Americans that think repeating their command in increasingly loud English is an appropriate way to communicate here. When we visited Berlin for the first time last year for a scouting trip (we plan to move there later this year), I was astounded at how much English I heard. And it wasn’t just a switch that came on once they heard the pathetic German coming out of my mouth – it was often how were greeted in hipster-y coffee shops and cool stores from the get go. When I did have a go with my German, I often got a smile and German back, not a sigh and switch to English. It seemed like the perfect in-between.

I hope once we move, all my interactions will be as pleasant as our first experiences were – whether in English or German – but I’m sure we’ll come across some of these haters before too long. With my rather Hessisch accent (I’ll be the one saying ‘ish’ instead of ‘ick’), I’m sure I’ll garner my fair share of evil glares. That is, of course, unless I’m drunk. Then my German will be perfect.

I’m really glad you made such positive experience in Berlin. That sounds wonderful and I hope you are going to have a good time there. Berliners are not really as rough as their reputation makes believe 😉 Though there are rude people everywhere in the world I’m sure your German attempts shouldn’t trigger unpleasant reactions. I know it’s hard to learn so you have my respect! Good luck!

Funny, how much anger this Exberliner “rant” has inspired. It’s not even that aggressive – or childish for that matter. It’s far less aggressive or childish than many of the comments it has inspired.
The most “bitchy” thing in there is perhaps the line:
“The problem is the blasé nonchalant attitude that some expats adopt when it comes to speaking the language of their adopted country…” Who can really argue with that?

I never liked ExBerliner, for many reasons. Agree with what Bill wrote in his comment.

Thanks, for a well-structured objective post.
I personally love Berlin for being so cosmopolitan, but we all have to respect the fact we are still in Germany.
And there is NO escuse not to study German, because there are PLENTY of FREE German classes. Thanks to those I got to a level B2 within half a year!

But it is certainly far harder to pick up German here than it was English in The UK. But in Berlin you need to learn how to survive.

I am glad someone who is not originally from Berlin (unlike me) knows exactly the feeling a multi-cultural, but true German Berliner like me enjoys when thinking about the city. Lauren- you got it! You have described the Berliner attitude in a way that I know it, a way that I often recreate and describe to my friends and acquaintances. I am proud to be a Berliner, living in California, reading these words.A great insight to what Berlin really can be, and often is. Ein guter Beweis, dass echte Berliner nicht unbedingt ausschliesslich Berliner seien muessen…(american keyboard) 😉

Great comeback – I think it’s a bit contradictory of her to publish an article with such venom aimed at the English speaking community, when she’s writing in English for a English language magazine about Berlin.

I think that’s the point: Exberliner’s readers are exactly the people I imagine Julie’s piece was written for.
(For the record, I’m Australian, I grew up in a monolingual English-speaking family, I now speak fluent German (after years of learning), and I agree with Julie. Yes, the grammar is tough and I understand that learning it takes time and effort and motivation. But the important thing is to at least try: the rewards of being able to communicate with the locals in their language and actively participate in the local community, in addition to seeing the world from another perspective, are invaluable. Learning a new language is like opening a door to a new world. Besides, the alternative attitude of “Why learn German when everyone speaks English?” is arrogant and obnoxious.)

I am definitely leaning towards the Exberlinerl. I am German and have, by now, lived 17 years abroad. While some countries will accept other ‘native languagues’ in their own areas, shops etc, none of them would accept not being able to speak the language somewhat after a couple of years. In fact, quite a few have made it mandatory in their citizen’s naturalisation process.

I believe that if you love the city so much, why are you afraid of finding out everything that it has to offer. Not knowing the language, and therefore closing off a lot of avenues for discovery, just means that you do not really have an attachment to Berlin but to foreign enclaves in any city in the world.

In this one case I think I’m leaning slightly toward the Ex-Berliner. But I’m very glad to see someone ranting back at them. Over the past four to five years they’ve drifted – alas – farther and farther away from high-street-cred journalism, and now prefer to pack their pages with mindless drivel and childish outbursts. And if you mention that to them, they stay in (new childish) character and thumb their noses at you in the rudest of terms.

For me they used to be a sort of common ground for English speakers of all types in Berlin. I’m not sure who they’re trying to appeal to now. Certainly to no one I know. Überlin’s articles are far more thoughtful.